GETTING CLOSE!

England has reached two World Cup semi-finals in the six decades since winning the World Cup in 1966, The first was in Italia 90 and then in Russia, eight years ago. England has lost the World Cup semi-finals, but this latest fixture reignites an old rivalry! England has lost the past two European Championship Finals but under the roof of the futuristic Atlanta Stadium, England has the chance to compete in their first mens' World Cup Final in 60 years.

England National Club coach, Thomas Tuchel (see below), held a pre-match briefing last night, which had to be moved to a new venue where the huge amount of press interest could be accommodated, such is the interest in this fixture. Tuchel will lead England into the big match, facing a challenge, so far insurmountable since the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy victory 60 years ago.

The match kicks off at 20.00 BST tonight. The country's recent Global record since 2018, includes a defeat in the World Cup semi-final which ended badly for Sir Gareth Southgate, whose team froze following a goal by Kieran Trippier gave them the lead after just 5 minutes. Played in Moscow against Croatia, England lost 1-2 after extra time.  In the delayed 2020 Euro Cup Final, held at Wembley in July 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic, England squandered another opportunity after Luke Shaw had put them in the lead after two minutes! England lost on penalties to Italy, a team that had not been able to qualify for the World Cup in the past three attempts!!

The World Cup quarter-final in Qatar, four years ago was simply a match between a very good France and England! Harry Kane missed late penalty which didn't help! The subsequent run to the Euro 2024 Final was stodgey with an odd highlight, but concluded with a poor performance in Berlin as Spain beat Southgate's team 2-1. Now it is up to Tuchel's men whom he says, "We will now want to squeeze the last bit out. I like the energy in the "camp", the players are very excited, very ambitious. That's exactly what we need for this game!"

Assuming Argentina successfully defend their World Cup crown, it will be the first time this has happened since 1962 and just the third time ever....we assume Messi will be at the heart of this success! At present, Messi leads the Golden Boot race with Kylian Mbappe. 

JUVE? NOT MUCH JOY!

 14th July 2006

Five days after the defeat of France by Italy in the World Cup Final, back in the home country, Italian football was brought back down to earth when the Italian FA announced the punishments after an investigation into a major match-fixing scandal!! 

Known as the Calciopoli (Calcio is Italian for football!) scandal, it involved the bribing of referees and match fixing in Italian football in 2004/05 and 2005/06. The worst punishment handed down to the main five clubs involved was suffered by the very important, Juventus. 

Juve was stripped of the Italian championship titles they had won in 2004/05 and 2005/06 and were relegated to Serie B for 2006/07, with an additional 30 point deduction for 2006/07 although that was later reduced to 9 points on appeal. 

It was also announced that Fiorentina and Lazio were to be relegated to Serie B although that punishment was overturned on appeal with those two clubs, plus AC Milan and Reginna ending up with points deductions/fines/ground closures.  

Below...Juve 2005-2006.

The Juventus squad in 2005-06, guided by Fabio Capello, it was brilliant!!

LUCKY THIRTEEN FOR LUCIEN LAURENT

13th July 1930 FIFA WORLD CUP ON THIS DAY, 1930, 96 years ago, The first ever World Cup goal was scored. The goal was scored by French Legend, Lucien Laurent.

Lucien Laurent later joined the French armed forces during World War II , but spent three years as a prisoner of war in Saxony, before being released in 1943.

He played two years of wartime football for Besançon before retiring in 1946, opting to become a trainer and youth coach. He was the only surviving member of the 1930 French team to see France lift the 1998 World Cup on home soil, but died seven years later at the age of 97 in Besançon

On this day in 1930, 13 teams across Europe and the Americas took the field in Montivideo in Uruguay, for the start of the first FIFA World Cup. The tournament was hosted entirely in the Uruguayan capital, with the majority of games taking place at the then-newly constructed Estadio Centenario.

Asia (0)  Japan (withdrew)  Siam (withdrew) Africa (0)  Egypt (missed ship!!)

North America (2)  Mexico  United States South America (7)  Argentina  Bolivia  Brazil  Chile  Paraguay  Peru  Uruguay (hosts)

Europe (4)  Belgium  France  Romania  Yugoslavia

The two opening matches kicked off simultaneously, and French forward Lucien Laurent   scored the first goal in World Cup history—reportedly in falling snow. Uruguay would go on to defeat Argentina 4-2 on July 30 1930, to become the first World Football Cup champions.

 30 July 1930 12:45 UYT (UTC-03:30)

Uruguay	4–2	Argentina
Dorado  12' Cea  57' Iriarte  68' Castro  89'		Peucelle  20' Stábile  37'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 68,346

Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)

AN IMPORTANT DATE

12th July 2020

Euro 96 was only topped by the 1966 World Cup in the list of international football tournaments held in England. This year though the plan was for another Euro tournament to have its conclusion in the home of football. OK, the Euro 2020 finals tournament was not going to be held exclusively in England with the 51 matches in the new-style finals scheduled to be played in 12 European cities. But the two semi-finals and final - originally scheduled to be played on July 12th 2020 - were due to be staged at Wembley. Well the coronavirus pandemic sadly put paid to that with the tournament being postponed for a year - as was the Olympic Games. The new date for the Wembley Final was set for July 11th 2021 - plenty of time to practice those penalties because surely were they going to be needed!

1974The manager of Liverpool football club, Bill Shankly announced his retirement.

1998 – France wins its first World Cup title, defeating defending champions Brazil 3-0.

July 12th is recognized globally as Malala Day and International Day of Hope, and in the United States, it features several fun, unconventional observances including National Simplicity Day, Paper Bag Day, and National Eat Your Jello Day. 

What ever that means!! TIME TO GO AND WATCH THE TENNIS!!

11th of the 7th (1966-2026)!!!

Bit distracted by "other" football occurring this week, but here goes, as I wait for another hurdle for our boys to jump! 

England started their 1966 World Cup campaign with a disappointing 0-0 draw with Uruguay at Wembley. In that match England fielded nine of the players who would later play in the World Cup Final. Jimmy Greaves and Manchester United's John Connelly were the two players who didn't make the final, being replaced by the goalscorers in the final, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters! Well done Sir Alf!!

Jimmy Greaves, below left, then of Chelsea, was England’s first-choice striker (inside right!!) at the beginning of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, but a shin injury in the third group match v France (won 2-0 at Wembley) forced him to miss the rest of the tournament. 

Geoff Hurst (right) took his place, and despite Greaves being fit again later in the tournament, Hurst was retained by Sir Alf Ramsey (you know...the manager!!) and the West Ham forward scored a famous World Cup Final hat-trick to win the trophy!!

Thirty-three years after the event, Jimmy was finally presented with a World Cup medal along with the other surviving members of the England squad who hadn’t made Alf Ramsey’s starting team in 1966. But it was a token gesture to a footballer who didn’t need golden baubles to validate his genius. Greaves had already cemented his legend years earlier thanks to 479 career goals during a spectacular career with Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham and England!!!

Even now it is hard to believe that the last of his 57 England caps came at the age of 27, when most professional footballers are just about to enter their peak. He scored 44 times for his country including a record six hat-tricks at a strike rate of one goal every 1.29 games.

Greaves is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer with 44 goals, which includes an English record of six hat-tricks, and is Tottenham Hotspurs''s second-highest all-time top goalscorer. Greaves is the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight history, with 357 goals. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in six seasons, more times than any other player and came third in the 1963 Ballo d'Or rankings. He is also a member of the English Football Hall of Fame. Jimmy died on 19 September 2021 (aged 81) following a period of time when he beame a successful television pundit!

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1961	Chelsea	157	(124)
1961	AC Milan	10	(9)
1961–1970	Tottenham Hotspur	321	(220)
1970–1971	West Ham United	38	(13)
1975–1976	Brentwood
1976–1977	Chelmsford City	25	(13)
1977–1979	Barnet	51	(16)
1979–1980	Woodford Town
Total		604	(395)
International career
1957–1962	England U23	12	(13)
1959–1967	England	57	(44)
1965	United Kingdom	1	(1)

JOSE's 200th and he has been "AROUND A BIT"!

On this day in 2020, Jose Mourinho recorded his 200th Premier League win, as a manager, with a victory for Tottenham Hotspur 1 v Everton 0.

Jose became just the fifth Premier League manager to reach the 200 mark in his 326th match. Well done the Portuguese born manager!! An own goal by Michael Keane was the difference as Spurs won 1-0 in a dour clash, to move up to eighth in the league. Jose celebrated his 200th league victory. Defeat would have sent Spurs to the bottom half of the table but in the end, Spurs won fairly comfortably, stretching their unbeaten league run versus Everton to 15 matches. Midfielder Giovani Lo Celso scored his first Premier League goal for Tottenham in the 23rd minute.

Personal information
Full name	José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix
Date of birth	26 January 1963 (age 63)
Place of birth	Setúbal, Portugal
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Real Madrid (head coach)
Youth career
1978-1980	Belenenses
Senior PLAYING career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1982	Rio Ave	0	(0)
1982–1983	Belenenses	0	(0)
1983–1985	Sesimbra	35	(1)
1985–1987	Comércio e Indústria	27	(8)
Total		62	(9)
Managerial career
2000	Benfica
2001–2002	União de Leiria
2002–2004	Porto
2004–2007	Chelsea
2008–2010	Inter Milan
2010–2013	Real Madrid
2013–2015	Chelsea
2016–2018	Manchester United
2019–2021	Tottenham Hotspur
2021–2024	Roma
2024–2025	Fenerbahçe
2025–2026	Benfica
2026–	Real Madrid